1-3 looking pretty good
By TED FOX
Fox Sports...Almost
I missed it.
Carlyle Holiday takes off on a 67-yard touchdown run, one that would have represented more than 10 percent of Notre Dame's offensive output for the year going into Saturday, and I'm talking on a phone.
Granted, I looked up from the conversation with a sideline reporter at a TV, so I did get to see the last 60 yards or so.
"He's gonna go, Jon! He's gonna go!" I yelled into the phone like a man whose been waiting to see this since his second birthday
Or like everyone else in the stands and on the field, for three games.
The Irish got one of those big plays we've heard so much about, and went on to win 24-7 over Pittsburgh.
And it's no wonder Nebraska wanted Notre Dame's quarterback running their offense when Eric Crouch moves on.
Holiday's performance in his first win as the Notre Dame signalcaller, and the team's first win since people were counting chads in Florida, exhibited Crouch-like precision.
He threw for 10-13 passing for 70 yards with no interceptions. Not exactly Drew Brees quality, but it was enough to pick up five passing first downs and keep that clock rolling.
He ran for 19 carries for 122 yards and a touchdown, with that long 67-yard outburst reminiscent of a run by another No. 7, Jarious Jackson, against Navy into the same end zone two years ago.
Throw in a workman-like performance from Julius Jones and some explosions from Tony Fisher, and the Irish were able to rack up 249 yards on the ground, almost three times their per-game average.
Not only did these passing and rushing numbers allow them to produce the "big plays" or the rumored to exist "long drive", they also let Notre Dame possess the ball for 70 plays and 37:23 of game time.
As any defensive coordinator will tell you, keeping Panther wide receiver Antonio Bryant off the field is good. They don't give out Biletnikoff Awards to sophomores for run blocking well.
For their part, the defense stepped up even more than they have already (they're only giving up 286 yards per game) and found what they've been missing: turnovers, and lots of them.
Five, to be exact.
The offense and the defense finally complemented and supported one another with results on the field. That led to, as much as it pains me to say it, a very Husker-type win, minus about 100 yards of offense. Ten years ago, you probably would have called it a very Notre Dame-type win.
Control the ground, pass efficiently and control the clock.
Obviously, the Irish didn't go out and roll to a high profile victory on Saturday. They beat Pittsburgh, now also a 1-3 team, with a loss to South Florida hanging around like an annoying little brother.
They cracked 300 yards of total offense for the second time this year, but it came at home, against the weakest unit they've faced so far.
Bob Davie gave all the credit for the win to his team, and was happy just to see them excited around five on a Saturday afternoon. However, he, too, kept it in perspective.
"I'm not going to get too dramatic about it. We're a 1-3 football team. But it's a heck of a lot better than being an 0-4 football team."
The record isn't that much better, but the team's mindset has to be. No longer is the endzone off limits like your dad's power tools, or is 20 points something spoken of as what happened in "the good old days."
"It is a big win, not only for our football team, but for the community," Holiday said. "It gives us a big boost and takes a lot off our shoulders. We needed this to keep us going — for something to build on. We didn't want to get used to losing."
The Irish offense is still pretty predictable. In fact, they ran on every first down against the Panthers. When it's working the way it did against Pittsburgh, that's easy to forget.
Most likely, though, the game plan will have to be more varied when Notre Dame again faces off against some of the stronger teams on the schedule, or we'll all be talking a about lack of production one more time.
But for now, the Irish are riding a fourteen game winning streak. In October.
If you're Notre Dame, that feels a lot better than 13-1.
Contact Ted Fox at tfox@nd.edu. The views of this column are those of the author and are not necessarily those of The Observer.
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, October 9, 2001
